CINCINNATI, Ohio (October 17, 2018)—FirstLight Home Care, a provider of non-medical homecare, is expanding its services to include Ageless Grace, a program that can help individuals maintain a healthy brain.
“There have been several studies on the impact of how having a healthy brain can help prevent early dementia and even diseases such as diabetes,” stated Jeff Bevis, CEO and co-founder of FirstLight Home Care, via press release. “We love the program’s anti-aging focus that helps improve overall health and well-being, reduce stress, keep the brain agile and the body responsive. It’s all about improving quality of life for our clients, especially those with cognitive deficits.”
FirstLight will offer Ageless Grace training to its franchise owners and managers so that they may, in turn, train their caregivers. The customized curriculum was developed by Denise Medved, founder and creator of Ageless Grace, specifically for FirstLight Home Care and is exclusive to the homecare franchise. Medved has personally trained 10 FirstLight managers and owners from 13 different markets. Bevis says the company plans to continue educating its franchise owners across the country with the goal of being able to offer the Ageless Grace program to FirstLight clients in up to 100 markets by mid-2019.
Ageless Grace is a brain fitness program that is meant to exercise the body and stimulate the brain. The exercises, based on neuroplasticity, activate all five functions of the brain—analytical, strategic, kinesthetic learning, memory/recall, creativity and imagination. Created by Medved, the Ageless Grace program consists of 21 simple exercises focused on natural, everyday movements and designed for all ages and abilities.
Medved created Ageless Grace based on her own experience with her parents’ health and observing the different ways they were aging. She wondered if there was a way to keep both the body and the brain healthy as we age. Medved spent seven years with a Duke University-affiliated hospital and a university graduate department to develop this creative approach to aging.
“Brain health is the ability to remember, learn, play and maintain an active mind,” said Medved. “It's all about capitalizing on the strengths of your brain and helping to reduce some of the risks to it as you age. The Ageless Grace exercises, which are based on neuroplasticity, address all 21 physical skills needed for lifelong optimal brain function, and each of the tools emphasize different anti-aging techniques.”
Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain and central nervous system to change form and function throughout one’s lifetime, specifically when stimulated by various physical activities. It allows the neurons in the brain to compensate for injury and disease and to adjust their activities in response to new situations or to changes in their environment.
Although the Ageless Grace program is geared toward individuals of all ages and abilities, FirstLight Home Care will offer the program primarily to its aging clients to help them achieve enhanced brain health.
“Not only does this program offer added value to our clients, we think it also may help in recruiting and retaining great talent,” added Bevis. “The ongoing training of our caregivers is essential to our Culture of Care. When we help to enable new offerings such as Ageless Grace, we also help to take even better care of our FirstLight team members who, in turn, are even better-equipped to care for clients through this type of ongoing training and education.”
FirstLight Home Care was recently ranked by Franchise Times as one of the top franchise systems in the U.S. for the sixth year in a row. Coming in at No. 321, FirstLight improved on last year’s ranking by 31 spots. This is the sixth consecutive year making the Top 200+ list, according to the company.
Visit firstlighthomecare.com for more information.
